the carpe diem genre of poetry ?? what is this please poets ?

Question

Ok, I am 56 and love the movie Dead Poets society, I am reading about the author Herrick on wikipedia and it says it is from: the carpe diem genre. What does this encompass ? I am very literal, not one ounce poet, but I feel the poem/sonnet ? : "The Virgins to make more of time" gives huge huge wisdom to young people if they will listen. I really just want to understand what they mean when they say :
the carpe diem genre, I know all about Carpe Diem from when the movie was released,but in historical perspective of writing, which I know very little about, what does this particular genre mean here ?
Please,no smart alec responses just becuase the word virgin is here, i am NOT looking at it from this point of view, but Robin also says "most men lead quiet lives of desperation" in the movie and I'd hate to see most young people do this.

Answer 1

"Carpe diem," as you probably already know from watching the movie, means "Seize the day." It is a quote from the Roman lyric poet Horace's ODES (I, xi).

With regard to poetry, carpe diem isn't so much a genre as it is a theme or motif used by poets throughout the ages. This is why I take anything I read from Wikipedia with a grain of salt.

The most noted occurrences of carpe diem poems were through Renaissance poets like Robert Herrick and arguably even more famously Andrew Marvell in his poem "To His Coy Mistress."

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.htm

However, we should remember that such these poets did not exclusively write in this motif. But when they did, the premise of these particular poems typically followed the pattern of a speaker within the poem arguing the case (often to a coy virgin) to take advantage of the fleeting pleasures of life.

They're fine poems, but in their philosophy I sometimes think they lack the complexity of some of the ruminations of the metaphysical poets (of which Marvell himself was considered one) which combines elements of the sensual world with the spiritual. In that capacity, I would recommend you read some of John Donne's poems.

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebib.htm

Answer 2

Carpe Diem In Poetry

Answer 3

As Carpe Diem means "seize the day," the genre references poems that reference seizing opportunity or living for the day or moment.

Frequently, the poem is written in the voice of a young man trying to persuade a young woman to kiss or make love.

El Tee is correct in citing Robert Herrick. Here is an example of a Herrick Carpe Diem poem:

Gather ye rose-buds
by
Robert Herrick

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer:
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.

Then, be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

Answer 4

As far as I can tell "carpe diem" as a genre, simply refers to any poem that has "live for today" as a theme. I don't know that it encompasses any particular time period, or that any particular poets really capture that throughout the scope of their work - maybe Herrick.

Answer 5

poets and their poetry with a 'live for today attitude'.

i think that line 'quiet lives of desperation' says it all.

many poets from many countries wrote in this genre and it is not restricted to a particular form or style as i see it.

Answer 6

The amirites were wiped out last Monday when the R&S trolls "seized the day"